Final Report on Evaluation of Community Action for Sustainable Health and Hygiene benefits

Executive Summary
In view of critical Water sanitation and hygiene situation in Odisha WaterAid with support from European Union started the Community action for Health and Hygiene benefits back in the year 2008. The duration of the project was from 1st April 2008 to 31st March 2011 and the program is for 3 years. To achieve this objective the WaterAid has appointed 7 local partners to implement the project objective in various parts of Odisha which includes districts like Puri, Khurdha, Ganjam and Cuttack. The action covers 100 villages in five districts and 50 urban slums in two cities of Odisha. Puri has been taken as the pilot district for the project. The rationale for selection rested on the facts that Puri district is one of most affected in Odisha for saline aquifers & fresh water overlying saline water is prominent in Puri district. The salinity and iron content in water is affecting 11 subdivisions of Puri. Similarly in sanitation despite being educationally forward district the government backed total sanitation campaign got Luke warm receiving in Puri. The objective of the current study was to look at the steps that have been taken to realise the project objectives. The evaluation therefore largely focused on the key result areas particularly whether and how far they have been achieved and the effectiveness of the institutional mechanisms to deliver the action. Accordingly the local Partners of WaterAid who were working in the sample districts i.e Puri, Khurdha & Ganjam; namely PRAGATI, RSSO, SSUD, TAS and Gram Vikash were covered for field survey. Besides this interviews of chief functionaries from other Local Partners of WaterAid namely Madani, VARRSA were done to get an overview of the programme and approaches used. It was found that in all the places the local partners have contacted the community and did PRA activities to build confidence among the masses. Technical methods for source identification were adopted and water sources were identified with the help of AFPRO, a technical agency for ground water exploration. Along with scientific methods, local wisdom were tried to apply through participatory approaches to ensure better site selection. They have perfectly amalgamated their approach of gender inclusion and mission Shakti (Government approach). Highly active female members who are expected to sustain and propagate the movement in the village were given preference for Village Water and Sanitation Committee and Kumari Committee (Committee of Unmarried Girls). The local partners of the WaterAid have conducted series of meetings with the locals regarding the problems arising due to the current practice of Water Sanitation and Hygiene and what interventions should be made and how they can help the community in achieving the requisite. They have been found to have discussed the options available with community but the agenda was more or less pushed to the community as the community did not come up with any ideas that can be implemented. As per the FGD in the said communities the WaterAid interventions in the sample areas have provided potable water which the community can use for drinking and cooking purposes, Which was not feasible in areas like Tota sahi hamlet in Matia Pada village who were suffering from blackened food due to high iron content in the water. In all the visited localities WaterAid has been found to have given due efforts to protect the water source through source Protection. Almost all the visited sites, the hand pump platform are properly constructed which prevents stagnant water from entering into wells. Community was found to be trained on water quality testing beside the local partners. It was found that the training on Point of Use chlorination for monitoring bacteria contamination testing and treatment have been given to the beneficiaries. Also in few places like Matiapada terafilters have been provided to the individual households for iron removal. The entire approach of the WaterAid and its local partner was found to be gradual transfer of hand pump to the government for operation and maintenance. However 112 Masons and 80 Mechanics have been trained in during the tenure of the project to ensure fewer breaks down time. In strategic villages spare part banks have been provided. It was found the Spare part banks are mostly regulated under the Panchayat office and caters the villages under it.

Final Report on Evaluation of Community Action for Sustainable Health and Hygiene benefits

WaterAids intervention in sanitation can be said to successful. In all the localities visited the IHL was found to be the main concentration of the local Partners. They have created demand for individual as well as community Latrine by conducting repeated consultation with the community and pushing the idea into their mind that only total sanitation can save them from the waterborne diseases that they are suffering from time of eternity. The WaterAids approach in the whole state and specifically in Puri district was aimed at catering the households who were above poverty line as defined by the government and left out from the government sponsored total sanitation Campaign. But implementing the strategy at a district like Puri was definitely a difficult affair from the partners prospective. Being politically aware and socially conservative area, the district Puri was a difficult zone to work for the local partners. The Partners has to literally work through the situation with extensive discussion with the public and sensitize them for the cause. The hardware intervention of the IHL in rural areas is found to be successful. It is overwhelming to see the facilities created by Gram Vikash with help of WaterAid India. The gravity based pipe water supply to sanitary facilities is quite commendable. This has persuaded the population in the implemented area to drop their age old practice. School sanitation blocks constructed by Water Aid have made with separate facilities for boys and girls. School sanitation management committee with a minister (appointed amongst the students) is looking after upkeep and maintenance of school sanitation blocks in the respective schools. The community sanitation block has been planned for the urban segment where there is less or no land among the beneficiaries hold to create IHL facility. Slum Development Committee (SDC) has been found to be created where project intervention has been done. SDC has made a consensus among the users to collect a usage fee from the users for maintenance of CSB and payment of the staff employed. The facility creation for water and sanitation has been found to be cent percent in all of the areas of interventions. Some areas like New Hand Pump, spare part Banks, Mini Water Supply, Iron Removal Plant have done exceedingly well. While some aspects like Hand pump restoration and Compost pit fall little short of cent percent. In all these the IHL implementation stands out with the massive scale of implementation and diversity of social behaviour in the areas of implementation. The PRA exercise, which covered the study of hygiene practices of the targeted beneficiaries, found that the public in general were suffering from gastroenteral diseases. Open defecation was rampant. People did felt the need to control open defecation but were clueless about the way out. WaterAid along with provision of IHL and CSB primarily adopted two practices as the initial implementation and gradual Scaling Up e.g. Hand Washing & Safe Water Treatment and Storage. At the time of evaluation it was found that cent percent of the community are practicing Hand Washing & Safe Water Treatment and Storage. Some of the community have gone further to personal hygiene. None of the community has reported that the water borne diseases have made a comeback after the WaterAid initiatives started in their locality. WaterAid was found to be proactive in the localities in case of information dissemination through local partners and aware generation programmes like Hand Washing campaign. The Hand Washing campaign was conducted on the global Hand Washing Day. The campaign was a joint collaboration between Water Aid and UNICEF with other partners like department of Rural Development, Department of Health & Family Welfare and Indian Red Cross etc. During the field visit of the schools the IEC materials were found in the sample schools visited. The teaching learning Material supplied to the schools has been found to have created a positive impact on the children. These materials are providing needful information for ready leanings on a daily basis. The Kumari committee members and the school children have been found to have got required training on the hygiene components. They are aptly applying the same to the community, which has slowly but surly showing the change in attitude towards sanitation and hygiene habits. But it is also a fact that WaterAid can not create a whole set of resources to the entire population in the state. It is ultimately the duty of the government to provide basic necessities of the communities. But major hurdle in this aspect is to make the community aware of their rights and the policies and

Final Report on Evaluation of Community Action for Sustainable Health and Hygiene benefits

programmes available at their disposal. Simultaneously the affordability factor can be brought in by creating community resources that can sustain the pace of the programme. Hence it is essential to pull the community by acting as a one point solution provider of all the information regarding citizen right and opportunity available. WaterAid can act as an umbrella organisation for the entire community based organisations and advocate to government on their behalf.